elections

Christian Candidate; Christian Conduct

God's Rules: a dilemma for Christian political candidates?

To the candidates for President of the United States, greetings.

I believe most (or is it all?) of you each declare yourself to be Christian. (My opinion of your profession is of no consequence for this post, if at all.)

On the basis of your own declaration, I appeal to you in the name of Christ, the Master: Read it all

Culling the Opposition

Do you think Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad and former Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Mousavi can remember 30 years ago?

That was a generation ago.

That was when the Shah of Iran was toppled and the US Embassy taken over for 444 days by the student radicals and protesters and revolutionaries of that day.

That was their heydey…and I’m sure they remember it well.

I suspect they would like to keep the new generation from doing to their power as they themselves did to the Shah’s power.

But how do you bring out into daylight the new generation of student radicals and protesters and revolutionaries…where you can ID them and/or arrest them and/or demoralize them and/or eliminate them?

And how do you increase the odds that in the process you might snag some agent provocateurs of the foreign sort — especially Israeli and American?

You stage a fraudulent election! 😯

So those three men (Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, and Mousavi) got together with other Iranian power brokers and planned the whole thing.

Is that my belief, my accusation? 🙄

Oh, don’t be silly!

On the other hand, I do not find such a scenario to be impossible or even improbable.

I just don’t know. And neither do you.

But I read it here first. And so did you (I suppose).

Now we’ll see if it develops legs.

Israel’s Opportunity?

Just wondering after reading this: Clashes erupt for 2nd day in Tehran over vote.

Here’s a bit from the piece:

There’s little chance that the youth-driven movement could immediately threaten the pillars of power in Iran — the ruling clerics and the vast network of military and intelligence forces at their command — but it raises the possibility that a sustained and growing backlash could complicate Iran’s policies at a pivotal time.

Maybe Israel will figure out this is a great time to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Or maybe they’ll decide a strike now will reverse the opposition to Iran’s president and thus could be counter-productive to Israeli interests.

Perhaps in his much-anticipated speech today, Israel’s Netanyahu will borrow one of President Reagan’s lines: “The bombs start falling in five minutes.” 😯

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

And of Tehran.

A Survey to Light Your Face

Reboot!

Well, actually boot is more accurate:

If given the choice, a new poll reveals, 59 percent of Americans would sweep Capitol Hill clean of the current batch of senators and representatives to elect an entirely new Congress.

“If given the choice”?! What’s that supposed to mean? Every two years they get the choice to sweep the House! Anyway, back to the article:

Only 17 percent of those polled said they would be willing to keep the current Legislature.

Rasmussen Reports conducted the national telephone survey on the heels of Congress passing a widely unpopular financial bailout bill, revealing a significant amount of voter dissatisfaction with the nation’s current legislators.

The polling firm records a mere 30 percent of voters approved of the bailout, while 45 percent were opposed, and yet Congress passed it, leaving behind some highly critical voters.

Wow! Seventeen percent. But will they actually vote that way? I suspect not.

That aside, though, let’s hear it for Congress: They actually voted against the polled wishes of the electorate. Sometimes it seems the Congress can’t win. If they vote by the polls, they’re castigated for that. If they vote contrary to the polls, they’re accused of disregarding the will of the American people.

Two more items from the story:

Further, less than half (49 percent) believe the current Congress is any more capable than a group of people plucked from the phone book, and nearly a third (33 percent) think the phone book congress would do a better job.

Despite the Legislature’s dismal 11 percent approval rating, Rasmussen Reports pointed out that 90 percent of Congress is likely to remain following this November’s election.

Oh wait. Get a load of this:

Rasmussen Reports dug into history to reveal that for well over 100 years after the U.S. Constitution was adopted, congressional turnover in national elections averaged about 50 percent. Following the New Deal era, however, those numbers began to decline. Since 1968, no national election has managed to muster even a 10 percent turnover.

So there you are.

Above all, love God!